The Tale of a Snake and a Lion
by JustFallingWithStyle
Summary: The 7th years in the last HP book return to Hogwarts to complete their final year, where Hermione discovers a new found interest in one student in particular - Draco Malfoy. Despite there past differences the two are drawn to each other and don't try to ignore the fact. Romantic, Angsty, shows the difficulties of 'forbidden love' OPEN WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT IT WILL CONTAIN LEMONS
1. The Burrow

_**A.N: Hey you guys and gals reading this, decided to do a Potter fic FINALLY! The title is a working progress, I'm not 100% with it yet but I really love Dramione and smut so here goes :D hope you enjoy! Drop me a review I'll be very greatful! More to come soon fellow Potterheads xxx - EmilyJ.**_

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**The Burrow**

A flash of platinum gold hair and a dazzling yet sarcastic grin was the last thing my blurry subconscious showed me before I woke, yet again. _WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER?! _I thought to myself as I pushed the image of Draco Malfoy out of my head and rolled lazily out of bed.

Today was exactly a week before we went back to Hogwarts to complete our 7th year and exactly 16 weeks and 3 days since the battle of Hogwarts took place. 16 weeks and 3 days since the destruction of the remainder of Tom Riddle's soul.  
Today I planned to say goodbye to my mother and father until Christmas and head off to the Burrow to meet Ron and Harry, whom I had not seen all summer. Being apart seemed to have put a strain on mine and Ron's relationship, but I had to find my mum and dad in Australia, reverse the memory charm, explain to them everything that had happened and bring them home. _He was the arsehole who wouldn't come with me._ I thought to myself begrudgingly.

I threw on a pair of denim shorts, an oversized woollen jumper, over-the-knee high black socks and some scraggy converse that I couldn't bear to part with. I brushed my teeth, applied a little mascara, brushed my hair, but when that failed to tame the wild mess on my head, I used a simple relaxing charm from the book of hair related spells Ginny got me for my birthday and skipped downstairs to my parents and trunk.

"Ah Hermione I thought you weren't getting up," My mum said from the kitchen. "Come and eat before you go sweetheart." I could hear her tossing pancakes around and tusking herself as they landed funny and she had to sort them out.

I came into the kitchen then and kissed her on the cheek with a "morning mum" then sat at the table and ate a few grapes as I poured strawberry sauce on my pancakes, then added strawberries. Mum always made me pancakes and bought lots of strawberries for when I part because they're my favourite. "Where's dad?" I asked as I tucked in.

"Oh he's just gone out to get the paper, have you got everything set for school?" Before she let me answer she carried on "You promise me that it's safe there don't you? After everything you told me about lord Voldertrots and dark eaters… I'm very worried about you leaving again." She turned to me with her brows furrowed looking worried as ever.

I gave her a light smile "Don't worry mum. Voldemort is dead and if any of his followers are still around they're in hiding. Hogwarts is perfectly safe I promise you."

Just then my dad came in with the paper under his arm and a happy smile on his face. He kissed me on the cheek and said good morning then went over to my mother. Ever since they had come back from Australia they had been much more intimate with each other, and much more open about it. I guess having no child for a while did their relationship some good – wasn't sure whether this was upsetting for me or not.

We talked phatically for a while and then I had to go, it had just turned 10:00am and I was now due in the Weasley's fireplace. Luckily I had enough time to get the fireplace of the new house registered to the flu network in time and had Ron send me a jar of flu powder; My dad was very excited to see how it worked. I kissed my mum and dad goodbye and fitted myself and my trunk into the snug fireplace then grabbed a handful of flu powder.  
"I'll write to you both when I can. I love you." And with that, I dropped the powder and said clearly 'The Burrow' and was whizzing around the flu network.  
With a thud I landed in the fireplace in the Weasley's living room, and was greeted by the many 'hellos' of Ron, Harry, Ginny, Mr and Mrs Weasley, George and Percy. It was still horrible seeing George without his twin brother by his side, and every time I looked at him I could see that he was only half of himself without Fred.

I stumbled out of the fireplace and gave Ron an awkward hug and kiss, knowing we needed a serious chat, then hugged everyone else.

"Hermione, you've got to come up stairs and see what I taught Arnold to do!" Ginny said excitedly about her pet pygmy puff. I smiled at her, I missed her enthusiasm, and she whisked me off upstairs. We were closely followed by Ron, with my trunk and Harry with Errol's flop of a body in his hands – I took it that the post had just arrived via the closed kitchen window.

My thoughts were confirmed when Molly shouted upstairs saying that the yearly letter and list from Hogwarts had arrived and we would be going to Diagon Alley first thing in the morning. As I walked into Ginny's room I noticed she had redecorated since I had last been here – she had taken down the posters of famous singers and quidich players and replaced them with a wall full of photos of us all. It was incredibly cute, especially the photos of her and harry smiling then turning and kissing each other – of course in the wizarding world the photos move. I turned back to Ginny who had just pulled Arnold out of his cage and he sat with his feet wrapped around her finger.

Ginny grinned childishly and said "Do your dance Arnold!" and right on cue Arnold jumped up, doing a twirl and a flip while making a cute high pitched noise, sounding much like a mouse. He then repeated this several times hoping to cause more laughter, and Ginny spent about 10 minutes chasing him around the room to put him back in his cage.  
Just then I felt Ron's arm twist around my waist and I turned to face him. I smiled at him slightly when I saw his hopeful puppy eyes. "Come upstairs with me Hermione, so we can have a proper catch up."  
knowing Ron 'catch up' meant make out session and try to grab as much boob as possible, but I nodded and followed him anyway, because I had things to say whether or not he wanted to listen.

He pulled me upstairs giddily and bounced onto his bed like a child. "I've missed you Hermy! I love you." He smiled at me and I pecked him on the lips.

"You too Ronald." I sat next to him delicately and breathed steadily, thinking about what to say first.

"Everything alright angle?" He asked, trying to make eye contact with me, and with that question, all my feelings over the past 2 months came flooding out – a lot louder than intended.

"No! No it bloody well isn't Ronald! I've gone _all_ summer without seeing you because you point blank _refused_ to come with me to Australia even though you _promised _me you would! And even after I came to terms with that you also refused to visit me every now and then even though you _knew_ it would take me a while to find them! And when I did come back having found them, you wouldn't come and visit me with the most _imprudent_ excuses like 'I need to catch up on sleep babe' (I did a bad impression of his voice) and I_ couldn't _visit you because my parents barely had any money after paying for the flight and house _and_ the house wasn't on the flue network!" I was positively screeching at him by the end and I then bust into floods of senseless tears. I was angry with him! I wanted to scream and shout but I just cry! Thank you brain!

He tried to wrap his arm around me but I batted him away and pulled my legs to my chest sat in the corner of his bed, staring daggers at him. He looked down with his brows furrowed sadly "Hermione I'm so sorry, I really am – you don't understand how sorry I am. I'm just stupid and ugh –" he shook his head. "I just couldn't leave – I couldn't leave mum or George or the house! Stuff needed doing and mum and George are never going to be the same again after Fred…" He stopped talking and sniffled.

_I feel terrible! _I sobbed harder and moved over to him and hugged him tightly "Oh Ron I'm so sorry – How could I be so stupid and selfish ugh! I'm sorry I just hated that you weren't making an effort I wasn't thinking about your situation…" I kissed him on the cheek and kept hold of him.

He looked down at me and shook his head "You're not. I was just busy y'know, looking after mum, spent a lot of time with George trying to fill the hole – its hit him the most but he's tried to be strong for mum, y'know. All that matters now is we're together again, right? Nothing between us now." He smiled at me and kissed my forehead. I nodded slowly but something still didn't feel right – something inside didn't feel right at all.

Later that day, after de-gnoming the garden for what seemed 20 hours as Ron tried to play around with me, being all cute and lovey towards me, we went in for tea.  
I don't know why but it seems ever since I got here, everything Ron has done has irritated me far too much, he could be saying something that he says all the time, that I used to love and find sweet, but now it just annoys me. Even when he says 'I love you' to me, I don't get a warm feeling anymore – and it doesn't feel right saying back.  
We came inside to find that Molly had prepared a feast fit to feed a small army, though after all the work outside we all ate like a small army anyway – the table was covered by a spread of roast chicken, turkey and beef partnered with all different types of vegetables and boats of gravy. There was also a platter of chicken wings and legs which the boys demolished on sight while Ginny, Molly and I helped ourselves to some meat and veg.

When we were all full to the brim with roast dinner and the ice cream that followed Ginny and I helped Molly clear up.

"So, how are you Hermione my dear? I haven't had much chance to talk to you today." Molly said smiling at me tenderly.

"Oh I'm fine, a little tired is all. I think I'll be getting to sleep early and casting a silencing charm on Ronald so he doesn't snore me back to consciousness." I said smiling as she chuckled. "Oh, Molly, is it alright if we get to Diagon alley a little earlier than usual; I have a meeting with Professor McGonagall and the bank; because of all my subjects and my lack of funds they might be setting up a type of student loan for me" I sighed a little wondering whether I should just drop a couple of them. But Molly smiled and nodded.

"Of course that's fine. It's nice to see you're not lacking ambition. We'll be off for 8 how's that?"

I nodded and thanked her before Ginny and I headed off to bed. I said goodnight to Ginny at the top of the stairs and padded into Ron's room where I changed into pyjama shorts and a vest and climbed into bed next to him.  
"Goodnight Ronald." I whispered to him and kissed him on the cheek before turning the other way and closing my eyes.

He mumbled 'night' and started snoring gently.


	2. Diagon Alley

**Diagon Alley**

During the night his face filled my mind's eye yet again – there was nothing I could do about it, my subconscious was telling me something: _I'm insane! _This time, however, the dream was different to all the others. It was different because in every other dream I had simply seen him from distance, seen glimmers of his face for a short period of time – it was very frustrating. This dream was different because I wasn't just a distant voyeur, I was with him – walking with him, talking with him, even laughing with him – it was most unusual. But I was unsure where we were, it was some kind of shop but I was unfamiliar with it. As I pondered the possibilities Ron stirred and began to wake up after me poking him for 5 minutes (I quickly reversed the silencing charm I'd cast on him in the night)

"Wake up Ron we've got to eat before we go and we need to be in the fire place in 45 minutes." I whispered to him before grabbing his nose roughly and shaking his face around with it. I then jumped up from bed and looked for some clothes to wear – I chose a short red flowery dress as the weather was going to be nice today and paired it with a short denim jacket and my favourite converse.  
As I took my clothes off from last night Ron had apparently woken up fully and rolled across the bed to wrap his arms round my waist and try to pull me down, but I knocked his hands away gently  
"Not now Ronald we've got a busy day ahead of us" And with that I dressed and left the room swiftly with my toiletries bag so as to get ready in the bathroom.

Ginny and I both did our hair and bit of makeup in the bathroom together and we played around with a few of the hair spells we knew.  
"Hermione you'll send my hair green if you do that! Just make it go normal I look like a bush-whacker!" Ginny said laughing as I almost used the wrong spell on her hair – instead I used a relaxing charm and some others to make it shiny and flow in the right way, with a slight loose curl look to it. She then moved on to doing mine a little differently to how I usually have it – relaxed and naturally wavy. Instead she made it all dead straight so it looked much longer and she mumbled a few spells I hadn't looked at yet to make my hair part a little further to the side and she pinned a couple of bits up.

"Oh thanks Gin, I quite like my hair like this" I laughed and went on "Guess I haven't utilized that book as much as I can."

She chuckled and said "You'll end up needing it more one day." And with that she skipped out of the bathroom. I took my things back into Ron's room and went downstairs to where the smell of bacon and toast was strongest. I helped myself to a couple of slices of toast and set them off buttering themselves as I poured myself a glass of orange juice and sat down next to Harry (Ron having not made it down yet)

"Harry, I feel like I've not seen you! We should go for a coffee later, just the two of us so we can catch up." I said smiling at him; I had really missed my best friend over the holidays.

He grinned back at me and nodded "Yeah we should, when we've got everything we'll nip into the café by the bookstore."

I hugged him and took a bite out of my toast. "I've really missed you Harry."

"I've missed you too Hermione. I hope everything's been alright with your parents." He smiled at me in a sympathetic sort of way and I sighed, because up until about 2 weeks ago nothing had been alright, everything had been so wrong I thought I was going to lose my parents all over again.

When we finished eating and we all had our lists and anything else we needed with, us we each stepped into the fireplace, one by one, and said the words "Diagon Alley" very clearly before shooting off through the flu network and stepping out into the wizarding world.  
Diagon alley was extremely busy today probably due to the fact that there was now almost double the amount of 7th years that would be attending Hogwarts this year (there was around 50 people who had signed up to repeat their last year). I looked around the crowds of people and couldn't see a streak of ginger hair anywhere and decided to head straight to the bank.

When I finally fought my way through the herds of witches and wizards and reached the marble stairs leading up to the grand entrance to Gringott's I turned back to see down the alley more clearly but there was still no sight of any Weasley's – something that did catch my eyes however was a familiar platinum blonde head of hair scurrying through the crowds of people quickly. My eyes narrowed suspiciously _surely Draco Malfoy isn't here? _

Just then I felt someone tap on my shoulder and I turned to find Professor McGonagall smiling down at me "Good morning Miss Granger. I hope all is well this fine morning."

I smiled back at her and nodded "Good morning Professor, and yes everything is fine thank you." With that we headed inside and were taken straight into a large room with 2 goblins.

We all took seats around a table and one of the goblins took out a file and began reading. There was an awkward silence for what seemed far longer than a couple of minutes before the goblin looked back up over his half-moon glasses "Well Miss Granger, Gringott's bank has always had a specific loaning system in place for students who don't have sufficient recourses necessary for all their equipment. We decide whether someone should get a loan depending on their grading average, their family's banking history and a general judge of character – the terms of one of these loans is that the money is only spent on school supplies, any money not spent will be returned to the bank and the loan will be paid off within 5 years or there will be consequences." The way he said it made me shudder _what are wizarding consequences for not paying a loan in time? _I wondered to myself

"We have decided that you, Hermione Jean Granger, are eligible for a loan. We will be giving you 200 galleons after this meeting which is yours to spend on school related things only. You will bring back any money not spent and another contract will be written up then, but for now we would like you to read and agree to this contract." He handed over a roll of expensive looking parchment and I quickly read over the details then signed my name at the bottom and gave the details of my wand.

The goblins lead us back to the main entrance where I said my goodbyes to professor McGonagall. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, to the ever growing crowd of people I reached into my bag to get the list of supplies needed for Hogwarts and before I had the chance to look back up someone came smashed into me, knocking me sideways, and when I crashed to the floor my head slammed down after me and the last thing I noticed before drifting out of consciousness was a flash of white blonde hair fall next to me.

I came back around a minute later – though it felt like hours – and I had to blink a few time before my blurred vision became more normal and I felt my cheeks flood with heat as I realised I was surrounded by people _how humiliating! Passing out in Diagon Alley! And now everyone is staring at me _I thought as I tried to stand up, however my balance was very off and I couldn't manage it.

Just as I was about to take a second attempt, and one of the witches from a shop near me had moved the crowd of people from around me, I felt someone take my hands and help me up with a gentle touch on my back "Come on, there's quiet and shade down here." Said the vaguely familiar voice from behind me, leading me down an alley to where there was an old wooden bench.

I sat down and groaned as I felt the warm wetness on my head and realised I was bleeding – I was far too light headed to work a spell on myself. But just then the boy who took me down here sat next to me and mumbled something, and my head felt better instantaneously "Sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going and too many people freak me out a little…"

With a jolt I realised who the voice belonged to and I jumped up, whipping my wand out, pointing it right into the face of Draco Malfoy "You!" I hissed at him.

"Well, I should have expected that really." He said quietly looking directly at my wand before sitting back and crossing his legs, looking as relaxed as possible. He grinned slightly, that sarcastic, narcissistic, arrogant grin "Come on Granger I just rescued you from all those people and fixed your head. Take it as a peace offering."

"Are you kidding me!?" I narrowed my eyes at him and lowered my wand slightly. "After everything you've done over the last 5 years I'm supposed to accept a peace offering? You're a _death eater _Malfoy – you're _entire_ family is! How are you even a free man!?"

His grin faded and his eyes turned sad "I handed my father over to the ministry and they locked him up with the dementors – my mother's on the run. I then spent a while being questioned and such by the ministry and had a few trials, but they decided to believe me and –" He pulled up the sleeve of his burgundy shirt and showed me his wrist, no longer stained by Voldemort's dark mark, in its place was a large pink mark that looked like skin that had be slightly burned and was healing.

By now my wand was held loosely by my side rather than death gripped and aimed at his chest. I realised my mouth was open and quickly snapped it shut and felt the need to sit down. As I sat next to him I noticed that he wasn't in his usual all black suit, and instead was wearing denim skinny jeans, a burgundy shirt buttoned up to his mid-chest area. Also he had grown his hair out a little and gotten some colour in his usual sickly pale complexion, so he looked a lot healthier and happier.  
"You turned him in? Your own dad?" I asked softly; shock had drained all the harshness out of my voice.

He laughed humourlessly and shook his head "He was no father. He barely qualified as a sperm donor. He was just a bully who stuck around to make mine and my mother's life hell. He ruined our family and almost got us killed a thousand times through sheer stupidity and selfishness. He deserves to be in Azkaban. He deserves all the pain and emotional torment they inflict on him."

For a moment I wanted to comfort him, I wanted to hug him and say it would be okay – but then I simultaneously remembered all the torment and cruelness he had projected on Harry, Ron and I over the years as well as the recurring dream I'd had of him over the holidays. I wasn't sure whether to blush or start shouting at him for being an utter douche. I just sighed and stood back up. "Sorry, that sucks. I have to go, school supplies to get and such…" I put my wand back into my jacket pocket and started to walk away slowly.

He was next to me again in the blink of an eye "Me too." He smiled and walked in front of me, but then turned so he was walking backwards. "I don't know why I decided to go back for another year, but who knows; maybe I'll enjoy it more this year." He smiled and winked at me before walking off into the crowd and disappearing.

I wandered around for a short while still bewildered by what had just happened _was Draco actually nice? Or was it part of a new act? _I contemplated for a while then remembered I had shopping to do. I got the list out of my bag again, this time with no injury. I decided to first get my robes as I was right next to Madam Malkin's and I already had my sizes so I was in and out quickly.  
After that I headed down to Flourish and Blott's and, after getting my books, headed to the apothecary and all the other shops I needed for the rest of my things.

When I had all my things in bags which were slightly over weighing me I quickly went to Gringott's to finalise my contract then decided to go straight to the coffee shop next to Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour and wait for Harry with a Pumpkin latté.

I was only sat waiting for a few minutes before harry came in with all his things, and to my surprise, a tiny barn owl.

"Harry!" I shouted and waved him in so he could find me, then gave him a hug when he reached me, "Who's this little guy?" I said poking my finger through the cage for the owl to nibble on.

He smiled and said "It's a girl, she's 7 months old and currently nameless. I'm going to grab myself a drink, I'll be back in a minute Hermione." He wondered off to the counter and I sat stroking Miss barn owl while she got a little more used to me.

I heard someone cough behind me and whipped my head around instinctively and saw a tall thin blonde boy looking down at me grinning – for the second time today.  
"You again?" I said suspiciously "Are you following me Malfoy?"

He chuckled "Why on earth would I do that Miss Granger? I simply felt the need for a warm drink, is that a crime?" He grinned at me and I felt my cheeks flush; he was being far too nice, it wasn't right. "What do you suggest? I'm feeling gingerbread latté but I'm not sure… What are you drinking?"

He was being nice, trying to keep a conversation going and there was something about the way he was saying things and his facial expressions that made me feel like he was being flirty _surely not? _"Oh, uh – Pumpkin latté… It's really good." I said, tucking my hair behind my ear.

I saw him raise his hand to my face as though in slow motion, before he lightly rubbed his fingers on the side of my forehead where I had cut it falling earlier. I felt my face heat up at his touch, so much so that I must be bright red. "Dry blood…" He mumbled before pulling out some cloth and muttering a spell over it to dampen it, then gently wiped the blood of my head. "Good as new." He said smiling, and then he picked up my drink, had a sip and frowned at it. "Ugh, tastes like piss Granger. Think I'll definitely go for the gingerbread one." And again, as he walked away, he smiled at me and winked.

No sooner had Draco walked away was it that Harry returned and sat opposite me. "Hermione… Were you just talking to _Malfoy_?" He asked with a hint of distaste as he said Draco's surname.

I coughed awkwardly not knowing whether to say yes, and go into detail about my morning, or just skip over it all, but before I had a chance he had come back to our table to answer himself.  
"Potter!" He shouted, a cup steaming in his hand as he grinned at me before Harry turned. "Look," He said in a normal tone "I wanted to thank you…"

"For what?" Asked harry harshly, still a hint of displeasure in his voice.

"For saving my life. Last year when Crabb nearly killed us all in the room of requirements. You're a good man Potter. I was too stupid to admit it then." He held out his hand to Harry and I found myself open mouthed for the second time today over this boy.

Harry looked taken aback for a moment before taking his hand in a firm shake and saying "Well, you're welcome."

Draco smiled at him and said "I'll see you two in school shall I?" and he walked out – though not before giving me one last wink.

Harry looked at me "Is he on drugs?"

We both laughed and talked for about half an hour before deciding it was probably time to head back to the Burrow, or try and find Ron and Ginny if they were still here – and just as we walked out we saw them both heading into the building connected to the flu network, so we shouted them and caught up.  
"Hello again" Ron said and gave me a quick peck on the lips before we went inside.

When we were inside there was a line of fire places with a few people still there, including Draco. When he saw us he started walking over – I assumed to show Ron and Ginny that he's a 'new man' as well as Harry and I, but Ron automatically whipped out his wand and said "What's he doing here?"

Draco looked at me and chuckled, then back at Ron "Wand down Weasley I only wanted to say a few words." I smiled at him as he winked at me again and either Ron noticed, or he was in a very bad mood because with a flick of his wand he sent Malfoy to the floor with a loud 'thud'.

I hit his arm "Why did you do that!? He said he was going to talk Ronald!" And before I let him answer I walked quickly over to Draco and helped him up "Are you ok?" I asked checking for any sign of an injury

He chuckled again and said "Yeah, it's only Weasley he can't do that much damage can he?" He chuckled again, more darkly this time and I narrowed my eyes at him "I'm joking" He whispered to me and winked at me before grabbing my shoulder with his hand softly and rubbing his thumb along it a moment longer than would be 'casual' then headed off into a fireplace and disappeared in the green flames.

"What the hell Hermione? I thought you were on my side?" Ron said trying not to shout at me, but there was no holding me back.

"Oh Ronald just stop! You attacked him for no reason and you know it! Both Harry and I have spoken to Draco today and he's been perfectly kind and friendly, he's apologised to me, he's thanked Harry and he's spent all summer making amends for what he's done! You're the one who did wrong right now, and I don't support the 'wrong'!" I stopped myself from screaming and firing spells at him.

"Oh he's '_Draco_' now is he? Suddenly you're best friends with _darling_ _Draco_." His voice was laced with venom each time he said his name.

"Stop being pathetic Ron." And with that I jumped into a fire place and said "The Burrow." And landed back in the warm living room I had left that same morning.

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_**A.N: GUIZ REVIEW AND I'LL PERSONALLY SEND YOU SOME SPECIAL EMILY LOVE. I apologize if this chapter was full of mistakes; I went all manic on it last night and did it really fast but OH WELL. Hope you like it :D  
**__**Don't know about you but i'm excited for some dramione feels - EmilyJ**_


	3. The Hogwarts Express

**The Hogwarts Express**

It had been 6 days and all Ron and I had said to each other was 'Good morning', 'Good night' and the odd question here and there. With the way things were going a break up seemed imminent – but then I had to ask myself, did I want to be with Ron or not?

Early morning on 1st September the burrow was full of noise as Ginny, Harry, Ron and I all got ourselves ready to be at kings cross for 10:30 sharp, as Ron and I had to be there as soon as the train was to make sure everyone gets on alright as we were continuing our positions as Gryffindor's prefects – which also meant I'd be in the prefect's compartment with Ron and the other 6 prefects, so I was probably in for a long and unpleasant journey.  
I sighed internally as I thought about this while we were in the car on the way to King's Cross station. I was sat between Ron and Ginny in the back seat with Harry in the front and Mr Weasley driving – after the incident with his last car (which had been magically modified) Arthur decided to stick with the original model of this one, rather than stretch out the back seat with an undetectable expansion charm – and numerous other things, needless to mention.

When we reached Kings Cross and found ourselves stood in front of the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 Ron stood next to me, put his hand on the small of my back and smiled at me timidly "When will you be my friend again Hermione? You know I love you."

I sighed, unsure how to answer. I just looked up at him and kissed his jaw, before walking through the barrier and emerging onto platform 9 and ¾ just in time for the train's arrival. There was no one else here so I made my way onto the train, right at the front where the prefect's compartment is, and I unloaded my trunk and put Crookshanks on a seat to sleep; he was far too old to go wondering off now.

As I took off my jacket and put it on my trunk Ron came in and put his things on the luggage rail as well. "So are we friends Hermy?" He asked, raising his eyebrows hopefully at me.

I gave with a sigh "I guess so. Just don't do anything like that again Ronald." I looked at him disapprovingly.

He pulled a face "There was just something about the way he was looking at you. And I'm sure he kept grinning and winking in that stupid arrogant way he does things." Ron said; that hint of venom resurfacing in his voice and my face turned a shade pinker.

"Really? I didn't notice… Surely he didn't…" I went on, lying slightly. Of course I noticed, how could I not? "Urm – I'm going to see if there's any butter beer on the trolley, do you want one?" I asked heading towards the door of the compartment

He nodded and sat down with a copy of The Daily Prophet in his hand "Thanks babe."

I rolled my eyes – he knows I hate being called babe but still insists on calling it me every other day. When I reached the trolley, Augustine, the small plump woman who walks it up and down the aisle, asked me if I wanted anything.  
"Do you have any butter beers?"

"I'm afraid not my darling, they'll have some in the café over there though." She pointed across the platform to the little green café I'd never actually before.

"Oh thank you." I said and smiled at her before I jumped back off the train. I walked over to the café and realised I had lost a button off my shirt and my boobs were slightly more visible than I was comfortable with but there wasn't much I could do without a spare button so I shrugged it off and made sure everything was still in my bra before walking into the café and going up to the counter.  
"Can I have a butter beer please" I asked the man, not before noticing him looking at my chest.

Just then I felt a hand on my back and got a whiff of a very attractive smelling after shave. "And another for me won't you." Said Draco Malfoy, as he handed the man money for both mine and his.

I looked up, shocked, and he smiled at me. As he smiled I noticed he had a dimple in his left cheek that I'd never had the chance to notice before. I also noticed how absurdly attractive he is! I'd never realised how lovely his piercing blue eyes were. I blushed deep pink as the thought crossed my mind "Well hello again. You're here early aren't you?" I said taking a sip of my drink, and then quickly thanked him for buying it out of the blue.

I only noticed his hand had still been on my back when he ran it round to my waist and pulled it away – I felt heat travel across my back where his hand had been.  
He smiled at me taking in my pink cheeks and my boob to top ratio – I blushed harder and took a seat. "Well I am a prefect; it's my job to be here early." He winked at me as he sat opposite me and my stomach fluttered a little which made me blush again.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were a prefect…" I said thoughtfully. Then it suddenly dawned on me that I was going to spent the majority of the train ride in a compartment with Ron and Draco; my body filled with dread.

I think he noticed when he said "Are you alright Hermione? You look like you've seen a ghost…" He waved his hand in front of my face slowly.

I blinked a couple of times and came back to reality "You called me by my name."

"Well, yes…" He said looking confused.

"You've never called me by my name before… Well you used to just say 'Granger' rather venomously now I think about it…" I wondered back off into my thought, thinking of the time in second year when he had called me a 'mudblood'. I felt hate rise up against him again and my eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yeah…" His eyes turned sad again, the same sad they turned when he talked of his parents. "I'm sorry Hermione. You didn't deserve any of that. You're probably the most brilliant witch of our age and you are worthy of nothing but respect and kindness. I will make amends for everything I did wrong to you – for every time I offended you or upset you in any way. I'll make up for it all." He was looking at me with big solemn eyes and I had just noticed that we had been unconsciously leaning in closer to one and other while talking, our fingertip almost touching in the middle of the tiny table and I could feel his warm, minty fresh breath on my face _spearmint _I noted mentally.

Apparently neither of us had heard the door go, because just then – as I flirted with the idea of reaching forward just a tad more – Ron was right next to our table looking down at both of us angrily.  
"I thought you were going to get butter beer." He said to me through gritted teeth and I quickly sat back in my seat with my hands on my side of the table.

Before I had the chance to apologise for the length of my trip, Draco spoke up. "Oh I'm sorry Ronald, did you want one too? I should have got you one when I got ours, silly me." He grinned wickedly and I frowned at him then stood up without a second glance and got Ron his drink then headed back to the train.

When it reached 11 O' clock and the train had just set off I wondered lazily where Draco was as I sat talking to the prefects in the compartment. All the other prefects were younger than us but still in their 7th year. I was sat in the corner of the compartment with Crookshanks curled up on my lap and Ron was sat opposite me and still had the face on because I had spoken with Draco for a while.

Just then Draco arrived and everyone turned silent and stared at him in shock. He raised his eyebrows and walked through them all "Guess I better get used to people acting like this when I'm around. At least you're nice to me Hermione." He said as he sat right next to me, hip to hip, and grinned at me, his eyes shining in the light. He stroked Crookshanks with the back of his hand and he started purring in response, and then Draco whispered in my ear "Well Miss Granger, it would appear that your pussy likes being stroked by me."

My eyes widened, my face went bright red and I couldn't help but choke out a laugh "Shut up Draco." I said back to him and shook my head smiling a little.

"Ooh!" he exclaimed happily with a silly smile on his face "You called me by my name! You've never called me by my name!" He quoted me from earlier. "Does that mean we're BFF's now?" He asked jokingly.

I replied with "Oh of course Draco best friends forever!" I shook my head and laughed, actually shocked I allowed myself to go along with his play – I felt strangely comfortable talking to him like I would a friend, but when I noticed Ron staring daggers at him I thought maybe I should have just left it… He was going to hate him either way though.

After that everyone started talking again and it was Ron and Sebastian's turn to monitor the train – Seb was the male prefect for Ravenclaw. He was a tall thin boy with a crooked nose and messy blonde hair.  
Draco then turned slightly so his body was angled towards me, and he started to stroke Crookshanks again. "So, do you like it when I stroke your pussy like this? Or do you want it a little faster?" He whispered, grinning at me – a sexy yet wicked grin, and I quickly turned bright red again.

"Are you trying to be as inappropriate as possible?" I asked under my breath.

He laughed "Not really…" He took his hand off Crookshanks and stroked my burning cheek with the back of his fingers. "I just love that blush of yours." The moment he said it I blushed even harder and he smiled again, then moved his hand back down to the cat. "Sorry. I'm making you uncomfortable." He muttered and shifted his weight ever so slightly away from me.

I said "No." far too quickly and his grin returned. He knew exactly what effect he had on me. Every time he touched me I felt as though he was running through my veins. "I mean, I'm not uncomfortable. I just don't know what to say to you a lot of the time. We haven't exactly talked much over the years have we?" I regretted saying it as soon as I saw the sadness appear in his eyes again.  
That look is why I believe everything he's told me – about wanting redemption and a new start as a new man. Because that look told me that he did regret everything from his past, and that that wasn't who he was and he didn't want that to be his label.  
I reached my hand down to his and held his hand – mine felt tiny in his. "Hey, don't look so sad." I smiled and stroked his hand in a friendly way and he smiled back looking so sexy that I wished it wasn't friendly.  
The moment I thought I internally hit myself. _You have a boyfriend! You can't be thinking these things!_

He stood up then "I'm going to get some food you want anything?"

"Um…" I hesitated, stuck between not wanting him to spend money on me and being very hungry and poor.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said smiling and winked at me before setting off down the train to find Augustine with her trolley of goodness.

I talked to Lucas and Pamela – the Hufflepuff prefects – for a minute or so before the door slid back open and Ron slumped back in and sat opposite me again looking glum "Where's your BFF gone?" He asked in a harsh tone and I automatically wanted to scream at him again, but I held back – _nothing like a domestic on a train full of wizards_.

"It was a joke Ronald, to try and ease the tension when he came in – and he's gone to get food." I said calmly. He just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms then insisted on looking out of the window with his bottom lip jutted out ever so slightly so that he looked like a sulky child. I decided to ignore his childish behaviour and went back to talking to the others.

Pamela was a very petite girl with long dark curls and eyes that could almost pass as orange against her olive skin; she nudged me and whispered "What's the deal with that Malfoy boy? I thought he was one of you-know-who's followers?"

I shook my head and whispered back quickly "He's good at heart, I can see that. He was brought up in a family that supported Voldemort and he had no other choice but to do as they did – he's making amends."

She contemplated it for a moment then nodded and moved on – if only Ron could do that so easily.

Draco walked in then with two pasties and two cartons of apple juice. "Pumpkin pasty for my 'lady." He said smiling at me holding out one of the pasties to me.

I accepted it and laughed a little "Why thank you kind sir." I said, playing along with his little game.

He carried on "And would my 'lady like a straw with her juice or would she prefer to rip it open with her teeth?" He bit his teeth at me, grinning as he passed me the carton _oh my lord he's so sexy _I thought to myself.

"I think a straw would suit me better, thank you sir!" I said, giggling as he passed me a straw then took the seat next to me again. "You're silly." I said smiling at him. "It's nice to see this side of you Draco."

He smiled and took a sip of his drink. "It's nice for this side of me to be seen." We then ate our food and chatted happily about our subjects this year – noting that we'd probably be in the same potions class again – and I'd basically forgotten all about my sulky boyfriend sat opposite me.

We arrived at Hogwarts at 6PM and had to escort the 1st years to the boats by the lake. I got into one boat with 7 of them and so did all the other prefects – and Hagrid of course. We set off, leading the way for all the other students so they knew they weren't getting lost in the self-rowing boats.  
Draco somehow managed to get his boat next to mine and offered me a race, but being a model student I fought against the urge to say yes and simply stuck my tongue out at him like a child when he looked at me disappointedly.

When we got to the castle we handed the 1st years over to professor McGonagall and headed in to the great hall and to our own house tables, which were clearly bigger than usual. As we walked down the aisles I noticed people whispering and looking over at Draco as he walked down the length of the Slytherin table, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He just walked quickly acting as though he didn't notice them, then sat down where the bench was free.

At that moment the 1st years came filing in, looking terrified and excited, and I smiled, remembering my first day here 7 years ago exactly.

* * *

_**A.N: Possibly the fastest I've ever wrote a chapter! so, apologies for any grammatical errors.**_  
_**Hope you potterheads enjoy! Review for me darlings, it's appreciated greatly! EmilyJ**_


	4. Hogsmead Village

**Hogsmead Village**

When we received our timetables the night of the feast I saw that on Monday I had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, followed by Astrology (there was only one astrology class so there was a mix of houses) and Potions with the Slytherins. I smiled as I realised Draco would be in my class.

This year the first of September fell on a Saturday so we had Sunday to just relax. After the constant arguing with Ron and being forced into each other's presence, I decided that a day apart was needed, so that morning when I woke up I checked the weather and dressed appropriately – in my high wasted shorts, long socks and a loose vest with the name of a muggle band my mother likes on it, with a warm jacket in case it got chilly. Then I headed down to the great hall with Ginny for breakfast, after also sorting my hair out and making myself look human – concealer was needed for under the eyes after a rough night's sleep!

When we reached the great hall we sat with Neville, Harry, Ron, Seamus and Dean who were already tucking into mountains of crispy bacon, sunny eggs, golden toast, towered pancakes and more. I helped myself to 2 rashes of bacon, a slice of toast, a fried egg and some beans, as I was feeling particularly hungry today.  
Ron, Harry and Ginny were planning on going down to the quidich try-outs to get a team back together – Harry was still captain and still had Ron, Ginny and Katy on the team so all they needed were another chaser and two beaters, but if anyone on the try-outs were better than one of them they'd have to decide who stay and who goes… which could be awkward.

"What are you doing today Hermione?" Ron asked when they finished their in-depth quidich conversation.

I thought for a moment and said "I think I'll go to –"

Ron and harry cut me off and said in sync "The library" and both grinned.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes "Actually I was thinking of going to Hogsmead. There's a nice quiet place down there where I can read this book I've taken out of the library about all the flying magical creatures – it seems really interesting…" I smiled, having missed reading all the weird and wonderful books that came with going to Hogwarts.

When we finished our breakfast we headed back up to the tower and all sat around the fireplace. I was sat, curled up in the arm chair with Ron sat with his head on my lap, on the floor, while Ginny and Harry were snuggled up on the sofa and Neville was in the other arm chair writing on a small piece of parchment.

"What's that you're writing Neville?" I asked curiously

He looked up and smiled "Oh, Luna asked me to meet her today so I'm replying." Ron, Harry, Ginny and I exchanged looks and smiles, expecting the two of them to be in a relationship shortly. "We've been going out a couple of months now." Neville added casually, and we all whipped our heads around and looked at him.

"Well you could have told us mate! Nice one though" Ron said smiling, and Harry said something along the same line.

I started playing with Ron's hair absent-mindedly, drifting off in my own world of thoughts, before Ginny spoke up "It's ten past ten, we need to go set up boys."

Ron sighed as he had to get up and I rolled my eyes "What?" He asked in a harsh tone.

I furrowed my eyebrows and said "Nothing, you're just always sighing when you move. There's much harder things to do in life than move." I meant it lightly but he wasn't taking it apparently.

Ron huffed angrily and stomped out of the portrait hole, shortly followed by Harry, and then Ginny after she said "He's just lazy and grumpy." Sounding apologetic.

I was quite shocked that Ron even reacted at all to my rolling my eyes; he usually doesn't even notice such things.

After they left I went back up to the dormitory and got my bag with my books, reading glasses that I now needed, some parchment, a quill and ink, mascara and chap-stick just in case, and the little money I had, before heading off out of the castle prepared to walk to Hogsmead seeing as the weather was nice. However when I was about 5 minutes down the road, beyond the Hogwarts gate it started to rain, and it rained hard. I sighed and grabbed my wand casting a sort of shield above my head to protect me from getting too soaked, though now my bare thighs were freezing.

Still, I carried on walking with determination when unexpectedly; one of the carriages went past me pulled by two Thestrals – which I could now see, sadly. When the carriage was a few yards in front of me it stopped and Draco Malfoy jumped out, beckoning me towards him. I was shocked to see him and my movement of concentration meant that my wand umbrella failed on me and the torrential downfall was pelting straight at me, soaking me in seconds. I ran toward him after squealing like a small girl at the feeling of the icy rain running down my back.

He laughed at the sight of me when we sat under the roof of the carriage and I frowned at him, my body shaking from the cold. "You're looking rather disgruntled Granger." He said winking at me, as he sat next to me and gave me his big warm cloak. I put it over my shoulders and hugged it around myself – it smelt fabulous.

I frowned, fake sadness and sniffled "You don't look to clever yourself." I said – a complete lie of course. He looked like an utter sex god. His blond hair matted across his forehead, dripping down his face, his eyes shining and his grin looking smug and sexy. I went pink and looked away. "Thanks" I added motioning to the coat with my nose.

"No problem." He said smiling at me. "You look like you needed warming up."  
Just then he grabbed a jar from the other side of the carriage and performed a little wandless-wordless magic to create a pretty blue flame that was emanating lots of heat – far more heat than mine had ever managed that's for sure.

"You're a very good wizard Draco." I noted and glanced up at him.

He grinned and put his arm on the back of the seat behind me, not quite touching me but almost. "Well, I don't like to brag but…" He blew his fingers and wiped then on his chest then winked at me and I smiled at him, shaking my head. "I didn't think anyone's magic could look good to you when you're like, so smart that you probably have 7 books in your bag on a daily basis." He looked at my tiny bag and added "And you use an extension charm so you can carry them around." Then chuckled and nudged me with his body.

I shrugged and said "I only have one actually…" then smiled at him. My face was incredibly close to his and I had to think about breathing – _how did he make me feel like this?!_ Just then a shiver ran through me and he dropped his arm from behind me, onto my shoulder and wrapped it round me and moved even closer to me to warm me up. Suddenly my entire body was hyperaware of his body pressing against mine; I could feel currents off electricity as though they were passing from him through to me.

I glanced up at him again and he said "You don't mind me being this close do you? You seemed cold." He asked, sounding as though he actually doubted whether I wanted him there.

"No." I said straight away and then added "You're nice and warm." But the glint in his eyes as he grinned at me made me think he saw through it and my cheeks went pink.

His smile changed and it looked as though he was giving me a look of adoration. "I love that. I think I might just make it my mission to make you blush at least once a day." He chuckled "If not several."  
Just as he had on the train, he swooped his hand round to my face and stroked my pink cheeks with the back of his fingers, making them go even pinker and he smiled. This time when he did it his hand was slower, softer, as if more determined to really feel me.

My cheeks were definitely bright red now and all I wanted to do was lean a little closer… Then I remembered Ron and bit my lip guiltily, looking back down at my lap – but even as I did that I rested my head on Draco's shoulder without realising.

We were silent for a few long seconds as the carriage bumped along the cobbles then he said quietly "I like this."  
I thought for a second about the possible implications of that statement but then he carried on "You're a really nice girl Hermione. I never thought I'd grow as fond of you as I have, and only in a short space of time."

I smiled to myself and nodded slightly "I like this too." _  
I can't believe I'm saying this, or even in this situation. Not even a week ago I pretty much despised Draco Malfoy and now I find myself liking him! _I thought to myself as I sat leaning on him. _More than like _a small voice added in the back of my head and my cheeks warmed again, but he couldn't see this time.

Just then the carriage stopped and the Thestrals were making strange noises. Draco jumped out into the rain and had a look, and then a couple of minutes later stuck his soaking wet face back in "Looks like we're walking the rest of the way."

I pulled a face "Why? What's going on?" I asked worriedly.

"A huge tree's fallen and I can't lift it with my magic. Not so good after all aye?" He said shaking his head in mock disgrace then grinned at me. "Come on Granger, bit of rain never killed anyone."

I got out of the carriage unhappily and was once again pelted with masses of rain. "Ugh I hate rain." I said as I looked up at the fallen tree that had disgruntled the Thestrals. Draco then turned them around and sent them back towards the castle with the carriage.

"Right, I think if we both do it, we should be able to lift it long enough to go under, but when I tried I just felt like I was going to have a nose bleed and it didn't move at all."

I nodded and pulled out my wand, his already raised. We both chanted the old levitation spell, and with a struggle, we managed to lift it enough to duck under and then lowered it back down.

Sadly Draco's cloak didn't have a hood, why I didn't know – it must not be from Madam Malkin's as all her cloaks are hooded... Now that I thought about it, it was also made out of a much softer more expensive feeling material. "Where's this from?" I asked him, gesturing to the cloak.

"Oh, um… Sweden or Norway I forget which… Apparently the Durmstrang boy's aren't afraid of a little rain; there wasn't a hood in sight, sorry." He said winking at me "Say, weren't you seeing a Durmstrang boy for a while – The Quidich player, Victor Krum?"

I was taken aback slightly; someone had been paying attention to me. "Yes I guess you could say that… We kept in touch for a couple of months after he went back but then nothing came of it." I said shrugging.

He was silent for a moment then chuckled "How does a girl like you go from Victor Krum – 'best seeker in the world' to Ron Weasley – an oversized prick?"

I furrowed my eyebrows "Ron's not that bad."

He chuckled again "The fact that his _girlfriend_ just referred to him as 'not that bad' says everything."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, then thought for moment "What do you mean a _girl like me_?" I asked narrowing my eyes at him through the rain.

He smiled and shook his head "It made sense when you were with a famous quidich player. I mean, Jesus, you're beautiful you could get any guy you want!" He looked shocked with himself, as though he didn't mean for me to hear those words.

"You think I'm beautiful?" I asked incredulously; how did this beautiful boy think that of a perfectly average girl?

He smiled looking embarrassed "Hermione, you're soaking wet, hair stuck to your face, mascara under your eyes, and you're still more beautiful than any other witch I've ever seen." I blushed furiously and he grinned "Oh, there they are again, those little red cheeks." He stepped closer to me so he was right in front of me and then bent down slightly so he was on my level and held my cheek in his hand, looking into my eyes.

We stayed like that for what seemed hours, but then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in before stepping back and dropping his hand. He started walking in front and said "Come on." Without looking back. I started walking after him to catch up with his fast pace but my legs felt like jelly and my head was spinning – I thing I may have forgotten to breathe. My light-headedness failed to subside and I could feel myself losing consciousness as I fell to the ground.

I came back around to the feeling of cold rain hitting my face, but it was softer than before, and I fluttered my eyes open "Ugh" I said quietly, wondering if Draco hadn't realised I wasn't following him, but then his face appeared above mine, only upside down – I went cross eyed as I tried to focus.

"You need to stop passing out on me Granger; it's scary." He said, his face inches from mine, and I decided to sit up rather than risk another fainting spell because of his close proximity.

"Sorry." I said weakly. "I don't even know what happened. I just went dizzy and…" I shook my head lightly and rested it in my hands.

Draco was knelt on one knee, as though ready to propose next to me, but his slid his arms around me and pulled me up, still hugging me against him when we were both upright. "How do you feel on your feet?"

I breathed in his beautiful aroma and said "Unstable." But I still pushed away from him and started walking towards Hogsmead – it was only about eight minutes from here. "I'll manage." I said turning and gestured him towards me.

He was next to me again in a few strides and we walked to Hogsmead chatting happily, but as we approached Hogsmead a large figure came out of the trees and shot a spell at us but completely missed, and Draco instinctively grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him as he turned to face the unwanted attacker. "Goyle?" He said sounding disbelieving "How are you even alive? You can't even aim a spell at someone who's 50 yards from you and wandless, you useless oaf." Draco said harshly pulling out his wand and aiming it at the chest of his old school friend, Gregory Goyle.

"What the fuck are you doing Malfoy?! She's a mudblood and you're protecting her?! And you're still in school?! You're supposed to be on our side!" Goyle said angrily in his deep voice and then shouted "_Stupefy_!" and a jet of red light came at us, but Draco flicked his want slightly and it repelled, aiming straight back at Goyle.

It didn't do much to him, just knocking him back; Goyle wasn't great with spells apparently.  
"I'm doing what's right! I'm sorting my life out and I'm going to become something! Unlike you, I'm now able to act on my own free will, rather than blindly follow my father. How is daddy anyway? Is he enjoying life with the dementors or have they already given him a quick snog?" Draco sniggered and I stepped out from behind him to be next to him – he looked at me worriedly.

Goyle made an angry noise and screamed "_Crucio_!"

Draco dropped to the floor and writhed slightly, his face creased in pain "Draco!" I shouted then quickly shouted "_Stupefy_!" The spell hit Goyle right in the centre of his chest with as much force as I could muster. I bend down and stroked Draco's hair out of his face and placed my hand on his chest.

He coughed a little "I'm fine. Bind him and I'll alert the ministry. They can deal with him."

"Ok." I said weakly, taking his hand and squeezing his fingers before leaving him.  
I reached Goyle and took his wand before hovering his unconscious body to the nearby lamppost. I bound his hands together around the post, behind his back and he leaned against it, his head lolling to one side.

I turned back to Draco and saw that he was stood, wand pointing at the sky, sending up a white beam through the light rain and blue light was emanating over him. I could see his mouth moving quickly as he spoke.  
He then dropped his arm and breathed steadily a couple of times then looked at me "There's a flask in my cloak, could you pass it me please."

I felt in both pockets and pulled the hip-flask out and passed it to him. He had a few sips and immediately looked better then passed it back to me and hugged me. As he hugged me he was increasing the amount of weight he put on me and I suddenly choked out "you're getting too heavy for me!" And I started to lean back, my weight moving off my legs. Luckily he stood normally and caught me before I fell to the floor. I hit his arm playfully and giggled at him.

"Whoa! What do you think you're doing?" He asked looking at me with devilishly playful eyes, grinning widely. He ran at me then and I ran off screaming slightly. He caught me easily ad slung me over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. I screamed and kicked my legs, hitting his bum with my hands.  
"Ah ha! I have you where I want you now Miss Granger!" He said in a strange accent – sort of Russian.

"No! No!" I screamed "Put me down!" I laughed as he swung me round so I was stood in front of him again.  
We both laughed and as I opened my eyes, our faces were getting closer together – his hands on my hips. His nose brushed the side of mine and his lips were not even a centimetre away from mine. My breathing stuttered and I blinked rapidly.  
Just then we heard the loud 'crack' of someone apparating in and we quickly moved away from each other. I caught my breath, breathing jaggedly as we approached Kingsley and Dawlish accompanied by a wizard I didn't recognise.

"Good work Mr Malfoy –" Kingsley started in his slow calm voice, then paused as he saw me "And Miss Granger" He nodded slowly "We've only got 3 more known people still on the run now and a fair few more smugglers who aren't known to us. I can't understand why this one was so stupid as to come up to Hogsmead though unless there's something going on, so Dawlish and Savage are going to check out the village while I take Mr Goyle here to the Ministry and decide what needs to be done. He's not a death eater but he clearly isn't going to co-operate with our way of living – however we have to give him a chance 'innocent until proven guilty' and such."

"Okay, no problem… Who else is there still? Jugson, Mulciber and…?" Draco asked

Savage nodded and Kingsley finished "Notts. But I doubt you'll come across anyone else now. Those three are too cunning to even think of coming round these parts."

Kingsley said goodbye and disapparated with Goyle, while Savage and Dawlish disapparated as well, but separately

As Draco and I carried on walking, the rain started to pick up again, and before we knew it, it was back to a painful speed. I sighed and exclaimed "It was supposed to be sunny today! I was going to read on the clearing through the trees behind The Three Broomsticks!"

Draco chuckled at me "Personally, I like the rain, but that's probably because I have short hair and I'm dressed sensibly." He winked at me then carried on "but hey, now you can sit with me, inside The Three Broomsticks, surely that's better?" He wagged his eyebrows at me, grinning and my stomach fluttered.

"Hmm is it better or isn't it, that is the question…" He raised an eyebrow at me and I went on "It's a pretty interesting book, but then again you're pretty good company…"

He opened his mouth and his eyes turned into a wide O shape "You said I'm pretty! You said I'm pretty!" He then started dancing around me. When he was behind me, after dancing, he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his cheek on my shoulder, looking at me with big eyes "Do you mean it?"

I laughed and said "Well, you do look rather adorable on my shoulder like that." Then knocked him off and pulled him by his hand so he was walking by my side again.

When we reached The Three Broomsticks I went straight into the ladies room and cast a drying spell on myself then redid my hair, relaxing and straightening it this time. I then wiped the black from under my eyes; applied more mascara and put on some chap-stick. Feeling refreshed I walked back out and found Draco leaning against the wall. "I feel much better." I said smiling at him.

He looked back at me, taking in my appearance and then nodded "10/10 would bang." He laughed at my shocked expression and winked as my face turned pink. "You don't realise how much I love making you blush." He said matter-of-factly.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as we sat at a small table in the corner with a candle floating overhead "I hate the fact that I blush so easily and so much."

He looked at me in shock for a moment then said "You shouldn't; It's cute… Your hair looks really nice straight by the way.

"Thank you." I said still blushing.

We talked for literally hours over a couple of butter beers then when it reached 4 o'clock we decided to head back up to the castle, however because it was still raining heavily we decided to apparate up to the gate, and then wondered idly why on earth we didn't apparate to Hogsmead. When we finally reached the entrance to the great hall it had turned 4:30 and food had already been served so we headed inside and said goodbye to each other at the door.  
I looked up the Gryffindor table until I found Ron, Harry and Ginny then made room for myself next to Harry, opposite Ron.

"Have you had a good day?" Ron asked, taking me by surprise; I think this is the first time he's asked me that – ever.

"Yes." I nodded "It was rather eventful to say the least."

Apparently that was all the conversation Ron could handle when there was food around because he zoned straight back out, and I helped myself to some vegetable pie and gravy.

Ginny however had actually listened to me and asked "What happened?"

"Oh, I'll explain later, it's a long story." I laughed slightly and ate my food.

That night, after a long soak in the prefect's bathroom, I stayed up for a while with Ginny by the fire. We sat under a blanket on the small sofa and talked; I told her about running into Draco and then Goyle and Kingsley, then went on to talk about how insanely nice and slightly flirtatiously inappropriate Draco is with me.

Just before we headed up to bed Ginny turned to ask me "Hermione, what's going on with you and Ron? Cause you guys are pretty much either not talking or screaming at each other?"

I sighed and shook my head "I really don't know… Something just feels different with him since Australia." I said sadly.

She thought for a moment then said "Well, if things don't work out we're not letting it affect our friendship. I love you like a sister."

I smiled a small smile "I love you too Gin."

* * *

_**A.N: Ah this chapter took me a while, apologies, but it is done now! Hope you guys like it! Probably won't be updating this week because I have an assignment deadline on Friday but I shan't leave it too long! leave a review and I'll love you! -EmilyJ**_


	5. Potions

**Potions**

Monday morning I woke at 7AM feeling hazy and tired but after splashing cold water in my face, putting on my fresh Gryffindor robes and fixing my hair, I felt more ready for the day.  
I headed down to the great hall with Ginny for breakfast while the boys stayed in the common room to eat.

As we sat at the table with the other Gryffindor students who had come down I asked Ginny "You have Herbology first don't you?" She nodded in response as she ate her toast. "Are you in greenhouse 6?"

"Yes, I think so. So is Neville." She said as she enchanted the jug of orange to pour juice into her cup, smiling when she managed to not spill it.

When Ginny and I finished our breakfast we headed out of the great hall and across to the door leading outside, where we passed Draco who winked at me and grabbed my bum as he walked past. My eyes widened and my cheeks went crimson, luckily Ginny hadn't noticed his inappropriate action. I turned around and scowled at Draco just before he disappeared to the staircase.  
Outside we bumped into Neville and Luna who were just saying their goodbyes as we approached.

"I'll see you later Neville." Luna said with a smile and kissed his cheek then skipped off in her usual flamboyant and floaty way, saying hello to us on the way past.

Ginny, Neville and I then made our way down to the greenhouses and followed the rest of our Herbology class to the greenhouse with a big yellow number '6' written on it. As we all stepped through the door behind Professor Sprout we each made a noise of disgust; it reeked of something similar to mould, rotten eggs and dragon dung.

Professor Sprout laughed and explained that they were maturing Bubotubers which needed lots of foul smelling nutrients to grow.  
"What I want you students to do today is, in pairs, get yourselves a Bubotuber, and put it in one of the boxes of soil" She pointed to the huge boxes at the back "And I want you to feed it, clean it, care for it and then over the next 4 weeks I want you to carry on looking after your Bubotuber and make sure it doesn't fall ill and die. When the 4 weeks are up I expect an essay on how your Bubotuber has grown and developed and what problems you came across and how you fixed them. I expect at least 4 rolls of parchment at NEWT grade level."

Ginny and I paired up together and put on shoulder length gloves to handle the huge slug looking things wriggling around in the soil pit in the front of the class – gloves are necessary as the petrol-smelling pus that oozes from their large shiny swellings reacts strangely with human skin.  
It took both Ginny and me to lift the Bubotuber out of the soil and into the box because it was wriggling like mad when we tried to grab it – we heard someone across the room yelp as some of the pus had splashed onto his face when he squeezed it too hard and he was taken to the hospital wing as Professor Sprout shook her head.  
When we finally got it in the box we poured in some more soil so it sat happily, half of its body out of the soil – I assumed the side that was out of the soil was its head but there was no sign of a mouth or eyes. Professor Sprout told us that it only opens its mouth when it's fed, so Ginny and I got some of the foul smelling 'nutrition' from outside the green house and poured a small amount into the box, and to our surprise the Bubotuber wriggled around a little, I assume so it was facing the food, then a hole appeared in its centre and basically sucked up the food, before burping and emitting an even fouler smell than the food and its mouth shut again.

When we finished checking our little Derrick (Ginny and I named the Bubotuber) for any signs of disease we washed it with a special water solution and took it outside to a dark damp corner near Hagrid's hut where it could sit wriggling happily until we came back later to feed it.

After Herbology I had to get to Astronomy quickly and considering it was all the way in the tallest tower that wasn't likely, however I tried, and managed to get there in 5 minutes.  
I was slightly late and quietly apologized to Professor Sinistra before sitting next to Seb, one of the prefects I met on the train ride and the lesson flew by.  
When the lesson finished I only had half an hour of lunch before double potions and my stomach was growling with displeasure. I was heading to get diner, through all the secret passage ways I knew of to get to the great hall quickly and have some food but as I went through a darkened corridor too fast I found myself flying through the air and landing, face down, on the floor.

I heard a mischievous cackle from behind me and cringed: Peeves. "Ooh muggle born on the floor! Is that how you like it?" Peeves screeched "Muggle born! She's a whore! Want's to fuck you on the floor!" Peeves sang his cruel song and I shot a spell at him.

He gasped and screeched a laugh "You can't get me with your muggle spells fool!"

The door behind me swung open behind me and a voice bellowed "Peeves! Keep moving before I get the bloody baron down here and don't think I won't! He owes me one so shift!"

Peeves looked taken aback but after a moment's thought, stuck his tongue out and disappeared. I pulled myself up and brushed myself down as the floor was awfully dusty. I looked round into the face of Draco Malfoy, who was lit up by the light coming through the door.

"What on earth are you doing down here?" Draco asked sounding disapproving.

I sighed and walked through the door, him following me. "I was trying to get down here quickly so I'd actually have time to eat before potions." In the light I could now see the bits of dust on my knees and chest. I nocked most of it off then looked back up at him "I'm really hungry."

He grinning and said "To the food!" Then paused and pointed at my chest "You missed a bit… I'd get it myself but I'm going to be a gentleman about it." He winked and set off towards the great hall with me following close behind  
When he opened the door I walked through ahead of him and headed down the Ravenclaw table to sit with Luna because the great hall was almost empty – only a handful of people on each table. I sat down and expected Draco to join the Slytherins when he didn't sit next to me, but then he appeared across from me on the other side of the Ravenclaw table and grabbed a chicken goujon.  
"Morning Luna." He said casually and ate the chicken

"Oh good morning Draco" She said lightly, like she was floating "How are you today?" Luna smiled at him and drank some of her juice.  
I admit, I was a little confused; after being locked in Malfoy mansion I thought even Luna would dislike Draco a little despite her loving nature… apparently Draco had been making lots of amends.

"I'm well thank you, and you?" Draco replied, eating some more chicken and I grabbed some food for myself.

"Oh I'm fine. You look tired, have you had a lot on your mind or is it just the nargles?" It amazed me how Luna could go from being very observant and intuitive to talking about nargles – a still questionable species as it was only her and her father who had seen them.

Draco chuckled "Well I was up a lot of the night thinking, but I think there are definitely some nargles at work."

I had eaten half of my sandwich by now and decided to ask "When did you two start talking?"

Draco answered "Well we spoke on the train and say hi when we pass each other, and we're talking now…"

But then Luna added "Oh, when myself and Mr Olivander were held prisoner and the Malfoy Manor, Draco used to sneak us food and water whenever he could, going against what he had been ordered to do. I always thought there was more to you than what everyone saw." She added on the end, speaking to Draco. He nodded. And carried on eating.

I looked at him for a moment taking in his sad expression. I assumed he was thinking about his time with Voldemort and his cruel family. "That was very brave of you."

He shrugged and said "I couldn't just leave them to starve. I did the humane thing. I wish I could have done more. Too much bad happened in that house."  
His face was torn between disgrace and anger. I reached over and stroked his arm comfortingly and gave him a small smile. He coughed and composed himself. "I told Professor Slughorn I'd help him set up so I'm going to head down to the classroom. I'll see you in 10. Bye Luna."

We said goodbye to him and he left swiftly. I frowned and went on talking to Luna for a few minutes.

When it turned 2:30 I said goodbye to her and went down to the dungeons. When I reached the bottom of the stairs where it was darker, I headed towards the classroom where I could see Ron, Harry and the rest of the class standing in wait. But before I reached the classroom I was yanked from my left into a dark corner. I almost screamed but a hand covered my mouth before I managed.  
"Sh." Draco whispered and chuckled. "I have you now Miss Granger." He lifted me up the wall by the tops of my thighs, just under my bum.

I gasped and shout-whispered "What are you doing?!"

He laughed and put me back down. "Just kidding… Maybe." He grabbed my hands and pulled me back out onto the corridor and the class had gone into room so we rushed down and let ourselves in.

"Ah, Miss Granger. Mr Malfoy. Glad you could join us." Professor Slughorn said from the front of the classroom. "We don't have any spare parts so you two can pair up." I looked around the class room and noticed everyone was paired up, and there was 2 empty spaces next the Ron and Harry for us to sit in. I mentally cringed as I walked over there with Malfoy following me, and I sat on the stool next to Ron and Draco took the one next to me, grinning amusedly, his hands flat on the table, tap tap tapping away in a rhythmic way.

Professor Slughorn carried on "Today, you've been assigned partners, and you will be working with your partner for the next month, as I'm assigning you all to make a drought of Polyjuice potion. Now, who can tell me what Polyjuice potion is?"

I raised my hand habitually and Slughorn pointed to me "Polyjuice potion allows the drinking to temporarily assume the form of another person but is only used for human transfiguration, if non-human DNA is added to the potion and then drank it will cause a distorted end result in the person and they will not be able to return to normal as quickly as usual."

"Yes, yes, well done Miss Granger, 3 points to Gryffindor. Polyjuice potion does exactly that. It is extremely difficult to make and takes the minimum of a month, can anyone tell me why this is?"

My hand flew into the air again but Draco spoke up before me "The lacewing flies need to be stewed for 21 days and the Fluxweed needs to be pickled at full moon." He said before sticking his tongue out at me childishly.

"Correct Mr Malfoy. Perhaps it was unfair to pair you two up." He said grinning, playing favourites. "3 points to Slytherin." I heard Ronald snigger quietly next to me.

"The potion takes a lot of preparation, but I'm not going to give you any more information on it, as that is all down to you. Use your potions books, and all the ingredients can be found in the classroom store cupboard. You may start whenever you're ready.

I stood up and got my book out of my bag to check the ingredients and Draco got his cauldron, heat mat, pestle and mortar, knife and handle to stir. He waggled his eyebrows at me flirtatiously as he span the handle in the air using his wandless and wordless magic skills then dropped it into the cauldron in front of me. I rolled my eyes, found the page in the book with 'Polyjuice potion' written at the top and walked around the table towards the store room. I only took a few steps when I heard him whistle behind me as my bum moved from side to side. I blushed, turned back, grabbed him by the sleeve of his robe and pulled him into the store room.

When I turned to face him my cheeks were still flushed, so his cheeky smile widened happily "You really are adorable." He said, tangling his fingers in the side of my hair, and then softly pulling them back out, while I focused on breathing and the lingering tingle where he touched while my head spun slightly.  
As we looked for our ingredients amongst the masses of random herbs and animal parts, Harry and Ron came in with another pair who immediately started looking. As Harry looked for their things Ron came over to Draco and I. I internally cringed as I imagined the next few minutes.

And sure enough he squared right up to Draco and said "What's your problem?" harshly.

Draco, being Draco, sniggered and rolled his eyes "Right now my only problem is your close proximity and the damage it's causing to my nostrils."

Ron didn't seem to even take notice of his comment and he continued to stare down at Draco, who was an inch or two shorter than him.  
"Why are you always around, being your twatish self and whistling and winking? Last time I checked you hated her because she's muggle born." Ron was trying to keep his voice low but the venom was tangible.

"Well." Draco said taking a step back. He crossed his arms and put more of his weight onto one leg. "I'm always around because I go to school here, I'm being my twatish self because twat encodes all my fabulousness, you're just too ginger to see it, and I'm always whistling and winking at Miss Granger here because – well" He turned his head to me and looked me up and down, putting on a show for him. "She's fucking hot. Why, are you scared Weasley?" Draco raised his eyebrows at Ron arrogantly and then smiled glancing round at me. I just frowned at him, my cheeks glowing which of course made him smile widely again.

Ron turned to me, too see the cause of his smile – I was frowning, and then looked down at the floor. "Hermione, do you seriously want this _death eater _working with you and talking to you?" Ron's voice was like poison as he hissed the words 'death eater'.

I saw Draco looked down, ashamed of the label he still bore. Anger filled me to my finger tips and I narrowed my eyes at Ronald. "Yes. Yes I do want this _boy _talking to me and working with me. He's been a right side nicer than you have." I looked at him coldly before walking to the other side of the store room, leading Draco with my hand on his back.

"Ignore him; he's being stupid and jealous." I whispered to Draco and I started getting the ingredients.

He got the ingredients off the higher shelves, occasionally looking in the book, and then turned to face me. "Is there anything to be jealous of?" He whispered, his face close to mine a he passed me the flies and boomslang skin.

I blinked a few times, swallowed and then looked down not knowing how to answer. Because there was something to be jealous of – I think.

I looked up a moment later and Draco was smiling as he took in my introverted expression. "Come on." He took the ingredients from my hands and carried them for me rather gentlemanly.

For the remainder of the lesson Draco and I started the potion and prepared everything we could prepare, talking and occasionally laughing loudly. At one point he decided to tickle my ribs, causing me to squeal and we each lost 2 points from our houses for 'behaving like children'.

I decided I wasn't very hungry after the lesson and was going to go straight up to bed to read but as I walked up the steps leaving the dungeon, Draco caught up with me and walked by my side.  
"Hey, the great hall's going to be pretty empty, do you want to sit with me – we can decide how we're going to go about this Polyjuice project and eat and stuff." He grinned at me and I couldn't help but to smile back.

I sighed and said "I don't really feel up to the hall, I was just going to go to bed… We can talk tomorrow morning though."

He smiled but seemed a little disappointed. "Ah, okay. Sorry that's my fault isn't it? I should have just left it with Ron. I just can't help it – he's too much of a massive arse to not want to annoy." He chuckled slightly and started walking up the staircase with me.

My heart sunk a little "What, so… All the flirtatious behaviour and whistling is just to annoy Ronald?" I tried to hide the hurt in my voice but was unsuccessful.

He stopped half way up the stairs and held my hand against the hand rail lightly to stop me. With his other hand he turned my face to face his, which was absurdly close to mine, making me go slightly cross eyed. "No." He shook his head, looking into my eyes intensely "No. That's because you're gorgeous and kind and lovely and amazing and literally the hottest person ever." He spoke quickly. "I can't help it, you make me want you."

Just then the staircase moved and we both flinched away from each other because of the jerk. His face had gotten so close I think if the staircase hadn't moved there would have been no stopping it.  
I thought for a moment as the staircase moved, and Draco was happy to stand silently.

We started walking up to the new corridor and I finally said "Sorry, I just don't know what to say. I'm in a difficult situation."

Luckily the corridor that we fell upon lead to a shortcut to Gryffindor tower so we wouldn't have to wander around for an hour.

I lead us behind a tapestry and we came out a few steps away from the fat lady. "What's difficult? You're boyfriends an arse and you hate basically everything he does, and I can tell you like me. I know it. The way you're body reacts to mine, you can't deny it."

As he said it he held me against the wall with his body and pinned my hand up with little force. My breathing came out jaggedly and my legs felt like jelly. I bit my lower lip as I accepted what he was saying – there was no question about it.

Draco's nose was touching mine and he was looking deep into my eyes again. "I know you feel what I feel. You're hearts stuttering. Your hips are tensed – confused. Your pupils are dilated. Your breathings erratic." He took a breath, apparently I wasn't the only one, and then he whispered "And I don't see you pushing me away." He came closer to me, his lips brushed mine, and before I could respond to them there was a clatter behind him near the portrait hole.

I didn't manage to look around before I heard "What the bloody hell…?!"  
It was the enraged voice of Ronald Weasley.

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_**A.N: apologies for how long this chapter took, busy bee getting ready for Christmas :) but there you go, you just read it! So, tell me what you think my lovelies review review review! More soon :D EmilyJ xoxo**_


	6. A Kiss

**A Kiss**

Draco stepped back calmly, never taking his eyes of mine - still full of yearning, as Ron ran towards him.  
Before I had the chance to breathe Ron had slammed his fist into Draco's jaw and his head whipped up to the side in response to the sheer force; however his feet stayed planted to the ground. He looked back at me again sadly and stepped away, still ridiculously calm as blood came to the surface of his face where the impact had cut him and his jaw began to swell.

I finally found words and screamed "Stop!" Before Ron hit him again. "Don't take this out on him! I'm the one in the wrong!"

Ron looked at me, his eyes full of hatred and anger – his face turning red. Tears sprang to my eyes as I looked at the pain and hurt and fury in the face of the boy who had been one of my best friends for the past 5 years.

"I'm sorry, but don't take this out on him. You and I have been screwed up for months but neither of us could face up to the facts – we don't cut it as a couple Ron." As I said it a tear rolled down my cheek and Draco turned back to me, a look of sadness crossed his face and he reached out to catch the tear before it fell of my chin. I bit my lip sadly.

Almost spontaneously Ron suddenly exploded. A roar of rage came from him and he launched himself on Draco, knocking him onto the floor. He then pinned him down with one hand, balling the material of his collar in his fist, then raised his other hand to punch square in the face again.  
I fumbled around trying to grasp my wand as tears flooded down my face silently. Draco was still calm, and just as Ron was about to hit him, he whipped his face out of the way and Ron hit the floor with a deadly crunching sound.

He let go of Draco to instinctively nurse his knuckles which were surely broken, but he make little to no reaction from the pain.  
As he let go of him, Draco threw Ron off of him and sent him sliding along the floor until he hit the wall. He then stood up lithely and dusted his elbows off before whipping his wand out and flicking it in Ron's direction.

I flinched and closed my eyes then slid down the wall into sitting position with my knees pulled into my chest. I buried my face into them and let tears fall, not wanting to see them fighting. Not wanting to be here at all. But then I heard nothing – no noises of pain or anger, no clashes or bangs or yelps. Just silence.  
I looked up cautiously and saw Draco still pointing his wand and Ron with his eyes closed, muttering under his breath, and Ron was floating in a standing position all his limbs floppy and his eyes rolling back.

"What are you doing?!" I tried to shout at Draco but my voice was so weak it was nothing more than an angry whisper.

He lowered Ron to the floor and he looked as though he was sleeping. Draco then put his wand away and sat next to me against the wall. "It calms him down – makes his brain processes slow and gives him time to think about the consequences of what he wants to do. Hopefully when he wakes up in the morning he'll have come to the decision that the means would not justify the end, and because of the calming charm I also cast, he should just deal with it in a better way. If not – well." Draco looked at his hands thinking and then heaved a sigh. "I shouldn't have come back to school. Everyone hates the ground I walk on, no one trusts me, pretty much everyone wants to punch me in the face – and good old Weasley managed to get first whack." He shook his head and smiled un-humorously.

I turned and looked at him sadly and stroked his cut jaw softly. "I don't want to punch you. And I definitely don't hate you."

He looked at me, his grey eyes soft and searching as he reached his hand up to wipe the tear tracks from my cheeks. "Lucky me then." He held my hand and brought it over to his face to kiss my knuckles and my heart sped up. When Draco caught my eye again he looked amused as if he heard the change in my heart rate – the thought of it made me blush and he grinned.

He quickly turned sad again "Sorry. I'll back off if you want. It's wasn't fair of me to be so flirtatious while you were trying to sort out your head about Weasley over there. I'll leave you be – if that's what you want."

He refused to look me in the eye and my heart sunk. "No!" I said too quickly. "I mean," I sighed "I don't want that – besides, we have a project to work on and 2 subjects together – that means we have to spend at least 12hours a week with each other."

He smiled at me, a genuine smile, and then stood up pulling me up with him then proceeded to pull me around a corner and hugged me tightly. "You're really great you know."

I laughed "No, I'm really not." I hugged him back, burying my head in his neck.

We stood like this for a long moment before he pulled back and spoke softly "I have to go; I need to get started on an assignment for muggle studies. Will you be ok?"

I nodded sadly, wishing I could join him or vice versa. "Yes, I'll be fine."

He gave my cheek a soft stroke with the back of his hand then walked away.

I sighed softly and leaned back against the wall, closing my eyes.

I didn't her him approach, but apparently he did because I felt his breath against my skin as he said "One more thing." Then I felt his soft warm lips press against mine hard, with a sense of urgency and all my breath suddenly fled me. He wound his arm around my waist and pulled me into him tightly, so I could feel all of him crush against me. My heart was racing against his as I kissed him back.  
My head spun as he continued to kiss me, only now the kiss was softer and had more feelings in it than before. I put my hand on his chest softly and we parted lips only to press our heads together, our eyes closed.

I finally breathed again before I fainted and fluttered my eyes open to look into Draco's beautiful face before I pulled back from him.

As his eyes searched mine for some clue of how I felt I pressed my nose against his and rubbed it slightly, the way Eskimos would to show their affection and he smiled in response. "Good evening Miss Granger." He whispered, his voice sounding so seductive.

"Good bye." I said, barely a whisper as I got lost in his eyes.  
He started walking backwards slowly, still holding onto me until it was only our fingers still touching. Then he was gone, around the corner, heading down to join reality again.

I walked up to my dormitory as though on another planet, my head still light and my legs shaking slightly.

I spent extra time that evening washing myself as the warm water was very calming for me. I lay in the water for about half an hour before washing my hair and shaving my legs, then reluctantly crawling out. I put on my fluffy dressing gown when I was dry and, crawled straight into bed where I lay with my eyes closed. I start to remember the feeling of Draco holding me against him, kissing me, touching me, his skin on mine. However my thoughts were interrupted by a light tapping sound on the window next to my bed. I rolled out and opened the curtains to find a familiar eagle sat there holding a letter. This was the eagle I had seen on occasion in the great hall in previous years bringing news and letters to Draco across the room.

I opened the window excitedly and untied the letter from the eagle's foot before giving him one of the bird treats and he flew straight back out of the window so I shut it.

The envelope said '_Hermione_' on it in neat handwriting and I smiled as I opened it. The letter read:

_Nee, I have to leave school for a few days but I'll be back in lessons by Friday, I'll explain why when I next see you.  
Meet me on Thursday at 5:30 at the entrance to the great hall; we can have something to eat and then go work on our Polyjuice Potion.  
Sorry about all the trouble I've caused, I'll make up for it.  
Yours, Draco._

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**_A.N: Decided to make this one short babies, hope you liked it. Review guys I always want to know if you like or dislike what you read :) -EmilyJ xoxo_**


	7. The Wrath of Ron

**The Wrath of Ron**

I went all day Tuesday without speaking to Ron – in fact I only saw him 3 times outside of our one lesson together; Defence Against the Dark Arts, in which I worked with Ginny to practice our wordless magic which was successfully explained and demonstrated by the new teacher, Professor Elisabeth Dawlish – sister of John Dawlish who works as an auror for the Ministry of Magic.  
When I entered the lesson and saw Ron sat next to Harry and I knew Draco wouldn't be in the class because he's off for a few days my heart sank and I didn't know where to turn, but lucky Ginny waved me down to the front of the class – then all I had to deal with was his eyes burning a hole in my back.  
I specifically ate in my dormitory and had an early night so as to avoid him in case he exploded on me.

Wednesday however, I had 3 lessons back-to-back until 3:30, so I had to go down to the great hall to eat because the elves would be too busy to allow me to help myself down there.  
I walked from Astrology slowly, apprehensively, and when I got to the hall I sat next to Ginny, a few seats up from Ronald so I wouldn't have to look across at him awkwardly.  
I had a portion of cottage pie at a brisk pace followed by a pumpkin bakewell and a cup of tea. Ginny was asking about what happened between Ron and I, and to avoid arguing with her I didn't go into deep girly details on the Draco front.

"Well, you know as well as I do that Ron and I haven't been working out since this summer and, basically, Draco had walked me back up to the tower after Potions because I was attacked by peeves in the morning; he was just trying to be a friend – and we were hugging outside." She looked at me with her eyebrow raised. "Nothing else!" I added quickly then kicked myself internally for lying to my friend. "But, Ron came out right at the wrong moment and assumed it was more than that and he started fighting him. I just couldn't do it. I've not been happy with him for a while and this just finalised it." I shrugged sadly and she nodded sympathetically.

"I understand. Don't worry though, things will get easier over time, and nothing's changed with mine and Harry's feelings towards you; you're still our sister." She smiled at me and I smiled back appreciatively.

"Thanks Ginny, you're a really great friend." I sighed and stood up "I'm going to head up to the library and do some research on my assignment for Astrology, I'll see you in a bit." I waved and walked briskly down to the doors then headed up to the library feeling much more relaxed.

When in the library I was able to find plenty of books on the movement of celestial bodies over the past 200 years and history books based on how people have changed; the assignment is to discuss the possibility of celestial movement affecting how society has changed using references and official evidence.  
I headed straight to the back of the library with my stack of books to the quiet area – I just sat myself in a beanbag between stacks of books which are rarely visited; this had been my study spot since the first week being here.

An hour later Madam Pince shooed me out of the library to close up so I put the books back and rushed out before she had a fit. I went the main way back to the tower hoping to avoid peeves, which turned out to be a terrible idea.  
When I reached the staircase, I was half way up when it moved, so I had to go down the 6th floor, and as I rushed down, I noticed someone move at the end of the corridor. I stopped dead hoping it wasn't peeves when I realised I was hoping for the wrong thing; Ron stepped forwards into the light and was looking at me angrily.

"We need to talk." He said, louder than necessary due to feeling angry and hurt.

I sighed, hating myself "Can we not do this here Ron…"

"Na," Ron said, looking around and walking towards me slowly. "No one's here to interrupt or judge, it's perfect for a little _chat_." I could hear anger becoming more and more prominent in his voice despite his relatively calm words.

"What do you want me to say?" My words came out as a whisper and I looked down at my finger nails.

Ron suddenly yelled "I want you to look at me and tell me why! Why you kept me hanging on like a dog just to do that! And with him! Or is it that you're just a nasty slut and you're only just showing you're true colours?!" The words hit me like a knife and tears immediately sprang to my eyes at how harsh he was being.

"Nothing happened between Draco and I!" I choked out, lying. "And I didn't mean for any of this to happen and you know it! I wanted things to be okay between us but too much has changed…"

"Oh yeah? Stuffs changed? Like the fact that you're now a lying whore. Or maybe you were just using me and now there's a richer guy for you to use! You're a fucking waste." His voice was full of hatred and venom but I could hear the pain and hurt still.

A tear leaked out of my eye and I sniffled more back.  
"Oh here come the water works!" Ron yelled, throwing his arms in the air. "You seriously think that crying is going to help your case?! I don't care if you cry! You deserve to cry. After everything we've been through, you suddenly leave me for _Malfoy_?!" His voice caught towards the end, his anger flailing slightly.

I wiped my cheek with my sleeve and shook my head. "Stop it. You know we weren't working. All we did is argue, we were better just being friends. You'll see that when you've had time. Just please stop, what is making me feel even worse going to prove?" Another tear fell down my cheek.

"It doesn't have to prove anything. It's just nice to let you know how much of a slut you've turned out to be and how much everyone will hate you when they find out.  
Oh, and here." He threw something at the ground between my feet and slunk off around the corner.

I bent down, allowing the tears to fall freely now, and picked up the pieces of pictures he had thrown at me, all tied together with a rubber band. They were all the pictured we'd had together, ripped up separating me and him in each of them. And where our faces were once smiling and laughing were now emotionless and hard.

I ran off blindly with the pictures in my grasp and went into the first classroom I saw. I threw myself into the corner and started sobbing hysterically. I couldn't handle his harsh words and the pain I am causing him. I feel horrible, like a monster, like a dementor who swooped into Ron's life and ate his happiness.

As I wept in the classroom, I could feel the cold from outside as the window had been left open, so I weakly picked myself up to shut it, but when I looked outside I was almost positive I saw Draco running towards the castle, however when I rubbing my eyes clean of tears and fixed my blurry vision I saw no one outside, and pulled the window shut, new tears already leaving their marks on my face. I dropped back down to the floor and thrust my face into my knees so as to stifle the sound of my sobs.

I sat there for a while – I wasn't sure how long, but my bum was getting numb. Just then I heard the door creak open and I prayed whoever it was would just walked away again to save me sobbing on some stranger while they feel awkward and want to leave.  
They came running over to me however and knelt at my side "Hermione," I felt a soft hand touch my hair and my heart lifted to the familiar voice whispered in a soothing way "Hermione, what's wrong?"

I looked up; searching for his face through my tears, but all I could make out was a blonde blur.  
Draco's presence made me happy for a second, but that just lead to me sobbing harder, so I threw my arms around him and buried my face in his shoulder.

"Hey, hey," He said quietly "What's up? A beautiful girl like you shouldn't cry like this." He picked up my face softly with his finger under my chin. I held back more tears as he wiped away the trails on my cheeks with his thumb. When he successfully dried my face and I choked back more tears, he kissed my nose softly and held both my hands in his – I felt like a child with his big hands around my tiny ones. "Do you want to tell me what's gotten you so upset?"

I sniffled and breathed a few steady breaths before speaking "Just – Ron." My voice cracked and I could barely manage words. I felt Draco tense when I said who had made me upset. "he had every… right – to be upset." I managed before another tear escaped my grasp.

"What did he do?" Draco asked through his teeth.

I glanced up at him and shook my head "He was just saying horrid things – don't do anything." I added; seeing the hatred in his eyes. I sniffled again and rested my cheek on his shoulder.

We sat in silence for a while when I suddenly realised it was Wednesday "Draco, I thought you weren't going to be here until tomorrow evening…"

Draco cleared his throat. "I'm not. I just had to come and pick something up from Slughorn's office. I was just heading there when I heard you crying in here." He suddenly shifted quickly and sat more alertly, looking outside.  
"Hermione, what time is it?"

I looked at my watch "Quarter to six, why?"

He sighed and stood up before holding his hands out to pull me up. He kept hold of me and pulled me into a tight hug as he whispered. "I have to go." And kissed my forehead, making me feel butterflies flutter around my stomach.

"Right now?" I asked sadly, pulling my head back to look at him properly, he looked so unwell and as though he hadn't slept for days. "Are _you _okay?" I asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I'm just sort of against the clock." He glanced outside again, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Okay." I said sadly, feeling like crying again, I looked down.

Draco lifted my chin again and made me look at him; his eyes were sympathetic. "I'm sorry, but I'm all yours tomorrow." He said, giving me that familiar cheeky smile and wink. We walked out onto the corridor and he looked at me intently, close to my face. He rubbed his nose against mine and whispered "No more tears angel." And kissed me softly on the lips. Butterflies were battering around this time as I kissed him back and said goodbye.

I headed up to the Gryffindor tower feeling a little better, but I was still swimming in the harshness of Ron's words and knew I wouldn't sleep tonight knowing Draco was keeping something from me on top of that. When I got to the common room Harry and Ginny were sat in the corner, with Ron nowhere to be seen. They gestured for me to join them, so I walked over and took the last remaining seat. Ginny put her arm around me. "How are you? Ron came storming in earlier and no one knew where you were; I assume he did something.

I shrugged feebly "I feel worthless and horrible"

"Don't. You know you're not; everyone knows you're not. "Harry spoke up "you're a great person, and a great friend, and a great witch. Ron's just acting out because he's upset, thing's will blow over."

"Thanks Harry but I don't think that's likely to happen anytime soon; he hates me."

Neither of them said anything so I shrugged and excused myself, to have a bath and go to bed.  
Of course I barely got a wink of sleep, I just spent the whole night switching between anger, crying and worrying.

* * *

_**A.N: Sorry for making Ron a bad guy it'll fade :D also, didn't write over christmas, I was too drunk ;) anyway hope you like it review please :)  
**_

_**Also, I've come up with a little spice to add to my plot which will start to unveil in the next few chapters, hope you like it ;) -EmilyJ **_


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